Jayden Hunt on the outer as Eagles turn to youth
Champion, who came through West Coast's Next Generation academy program, will make his debut as the sub in Friday night's clash with GWS at Optus Stadium.
The 19-year-old has kicked seven goals in 11 WAFL Eagles games this year, with his defensive pressure highlighted by an 11-tackle effort against Peel recently.
Champion's debut comes just a week after West Coast unveiled swingman Jobe Shanahan, who impressed with a goal and three marks from eight disposals in a 29-point loss to Collingwood.
The recent retirements of Jeremy McGovern (concussion) and grand final hero Dom Sheed (knee) - plus injuries to Elliot Yeo, Oscar Allen and Jake Waterman - have further accelerated West Coast's move to generation next.
Jamie Cripps, Allen, Hunt, Campbell Chesser, Jack Petruccelle and Tom Cole are among the more notable names who are coming out of contract at the end of this season.
Allen is being widely tipped to join either Brisbane or Hawthorn as a restricted free agent, but the rest of the players mentioned face a nervous wait to see if they will be offered a new deal.
It means Hunt's dramatic drop in form has come at the worst possible time, with the former Demon to be axed for the clash with GWS.
The 30-year-old tallied just one disposal from 14 per cent playing time as the sub last Saturday, which followed on from a two-disposal effort a week earlier against Carlton.
"Form can get everyone at different times," Eagles coach Andrew McQualter said.
"We're going to send Hunty back (to the WAFL) and build his game again, like we've done with other players this year."
McQualter praised Malakai for his rapid progress this year.
And with the likes of Harley Reid, Bo Allan, Tyrell Dewar, Reuben Ginbey, Tom Gross, Clay Hall, Elijah Hewett, Sandy Brock, Archer Reid, Jack Williams, Shanahan and Tom McCarthy either having already made their mark or shown flashes of their potential, there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel in West Coast's rebuild.
GWS (9-6) beat West Coast by 81 points earlier this year and will be aiming to post another percentage-boosting win.
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The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
All fair in Harley Reid-Tom Green war: Kingsley
GWS coach Adam Kingsley insists it wasn't a deliberate tactic to get under the skin of West Coast star Harley Reid during the Giants' 59-point win in Perth on Friday night. The Giants kicked six of the first seven goals of the match to set up the easy 16.15 (111) to 8.4 (52) triumph, boosting their season record to 10-6 ahead of next week's crunch clash with Geelong. The biggest talking point of Friday's encounter was the heated tit-for-tat between GWS midfielder Tom Green and Reid. The pair went at it throughout the night, but it was their third-quarter exchanges that really stood out. Reid was floored and left gasping for breath after copping an off-the-ball elbow to the midriff near a ruck contest. Play was momentarily stopped for Reid to be assisted by the club's on-field doctor. As soon as Reid was given the all clear, Green ran in to lay an angry bump on the star Eagle, sparking heated words and a pointed finger from Reid. Green also copped plenty of niggling hits from Reid in what became a fascinating side plot to what was an otherwise dull game. Reid finished the match with 24 disposals and seven clearances, while Green was influential with 35 touches and nine clearances. "We didn't talk about getting under his skin," Kingsley said when asked about his team's tactics to curb the influence of Reid. "We identified his clearance threat to us during the week, and I think he had four clearance in the first quarter, so it was a really strong start from him. "We considered tagging him to just nullify his influence on the game, but we decided against that. "All in all, I thought we did pretty well on him." West Coast coach Andrew McQualter didn't have any issues with the Reid-Green battle. "It's awesome. That's what footy is about, as long as it doesn't cross a line," McQualter said. "I love the competitiveness of the game, and I hope all of our players do. "He (Reid) was up for the fight tonight. Potentially lost his attention a couple of times, which we'll keep working with him."But he's an ultimate competitor. If we could get every player to compete like Harley and want to go about their business like that, we would be happy." GWS defender Jack Buckley is in doubt to face the Cats after injuring his ankle in the third quarter. Kingsley is hopeful star forward Jesse Hogan (foot, illness) will be fit to return. "He did a 4km session (on Friday) back at headquarters in Sydney and had no pain, feeling fine, recovered from the bout of gastro that he had," Kingsley said of the Coleman medal contender. "There was no pain in his foot that's been troubling him for a little while. "He had a screw put in there, six years ago perhaps, and so at times it becomes irritated and it's something that he's managed. "He managed it last year, he's managing it this year, and sometimes it just tips over the edge where we've just got to give him a spell." GWS coach Adam Kingsley insists it wasn't a deliberate tactic to get under the skin of West Coast star Harley Reid during the Giants' 59-point win in Perth on Friday night. The Giants kicked six of the first seven goals of the match to set up the easy 16.15 (111) to 8.4 (52) triumph, boosting their season record to 10-6 ahead of next week's crunch clash with Geelong. The biggest talking point of Friday's encounter was the heated tit-for-tat between GWS midfielder Tom Green and Reid. The pair went at it throughout the night, but it was their third-quarter exchanges that really stood out. Reid was floored and left gasping for breath after copping an off-the-ball elbow to the midriff near a ruck contest. Play was momentarily stopped for Reid to be assisted by the club's on-field doctor. As soon as Reid was given the all clear, Green ran in to lay an angry bump on the star Eagle, sparking heated words and a pointed finger from Reid. Green also copped plenty of niggling hits from Reid in what became a fascinating side plot to what was an otherwise dull game. Reid finished the match with 24 disposals and seven clearances, while Green was influential with 35 touches and nine clearances. "We didn't talk about getting under his skin," Kingsley said when asked about his team's tactics to curb the influence of Reid. "We identified his clearance threat to us during the week, and I think he had four clearance in the first quarter, so it was a really strong start from him. "We considered tagging him to just nullify his influence on the game, but we decided against that. "All in all, I thought we did pretty well on him." West Coast coach Andrew McQualter didn't have any issues with the Reid-Green battle. "It's awesome. That's what footy is about, as long as it doesn't cross a line," McQualter said. "I love the competitiveness of the game, and I hope all of our players do. "He (Reid) was up for the fight tonight. Potentially lost his attention a couple of times, which we'll keep working with him."But he's an ultimate competitor. If we could get every player to compete like Harley and want to go about their business like that, we would be happy." GWS defender Jack Buckley is in doubt to face the Cats after injuring his ankle in the third quarter. Kingsley is hopeful star forward Jesse Hogan (foot, illness) will be fit to return. "He did a 4km session (on Friday) back at headquarters in Sydney and had no pain, feeling fine, recovered from the bout of gastro that he had," Kingsley said of the Coleman medal contender. "There was no pain in his foot that's been troubling him for a little while. "He had a screw put in there, six years ago perhaps, and so at times it becomes irritated and it's something that he's managed. "He managed it last year, he's managing it this year, and sometimes it just tips over the edge where we've just got to give him a spell." GWS coach Adam Kingsley insists it wasn't a deliberate tactic to get under the skin of West Coast star Harley Reid during the Giants' 59-point win in Perth on Friday night. The Giants kicked six of the first seven goals of the match to set up the easy 16.15 (111) to 8.4 (52) triumph, boosting their season record to 10-6 ahead of next week's crunch clash with Geelong. The biggest talking point of Friday's encounter was the heated tit-for-tat between GWS midfielder Tom Green and Reid. The pair went at it throughout the night, but it was their third-quarter exchanges that really stood out. Reid was floored and left gasping for breath after copping an off-the-ball elbow to the midriff near a ruck contest. Play was momentarily stopped for Reid to be assisted by the club's on-field doctor. As soon as Reid was given the all clear, Green ran in to lay an angry bump on the star Eagle, sparking heated words and a pointed finger from Reid. Green also copped plenty of niggling hits from Reid in what became a fascinating side plot to what was an otherwise dull game. Reid finished the match with 24 disposals and seven clearances, while Green was influential with 35 touches and nine clearances. "We didn't talk about getting under his skin," Kingsley said when asked about his team's tactics to curb the influence of Reid. "We identified his clearance threat to us during the week, and I think he had four clearance in the first quarter, so it was a really strong start from him. "We considered tagging him to just nullify his influence on the game, but we decided against that. "All in all, I thought we did pretty well on him." West Coast coach Andrew McQualter didn't have any issues with the Reid-Green battle. "It's awesome. That's what footy is about, as long as it doesn't cross a line," McQualter said. "I love the competitiveness of the game, and I hope all of our players do. "He (Reid) was up for the fight tonight. Potentially lost his attention a couple of times, which we'll keep working with him."But he's an ultimate competitor. If we could get every player to compete like Harley and want to go about their business like that, we would be happy." GWS defender Jack Buckley is in doubt to face the Cats after injuring his ankle in the third quarter. Kingsley is hopeful star forward Jesse Hogan (foot, illness) will be fit to return. "He did a 4km session (on Friday) back at headquarters in Sydney and had no pain, feeling fine, recovered from the bout of gastro that he had," Kingsley said of the Coleman medal contender. "There was no pain in his foot that's been troubling him for a little while. "He had a screw put in there, six years ago perhaps, and so at times it becomes irritated and it's something that he's managed. "He managed it last year, he's managing it this year, and sometimes it just tips over the edge where we've just got to give him a spell."
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Michael Voss makes ‘unusual' coaches box move, ‘horrible' Carlton leaves him on the brink
Michael Voss appeared to vacate his coaching duties in unusual scenes during Carlton's dismal 56-point loss to Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night. Collingwood were several classes above the Blues as the Pies claimed a 17.13 (115) to 8.11 (59) victory, their eighth win in a row. FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. With Carlton's final hopes over, the question is now whether Voss can keep his job or if he will be sacked before he can even see out the season. Early in the first quarter when Collingwood had kicked the first two goals of the game, Voss was spotted sitting on the stairs in Carlton's coaching box, away from the head coach's usual position at the row of desks. 'Michael Voss sitting in the aisle is an unusual choice,' Fox Footy commentator Gerard Whateley said. Brownlow Medallist Dane Swan wrote on X: 'Voss surely can't see the whole ground sitting back row on the stairs against the wall. That is one strange spot for the head coach to be sitting.' Former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas said: 'Why is Vossy hiding in the back corner of the coaches box sitting on steps?' ABC Radio commentator Ben Cameron said the scenes in the coaches box made Voss look 'impotent'. Voss resumed his position in the coach's chair in the first half, but he could do little to stem the bleeding as Collingwood ran riot over Carlton. From an optics point of view, coaching from the stairs suggested Voss might have already checked out Carlton's horror season. Buddy Franklin claimed Voss wouldn't see out the season and he may well be proven right, depending on the decision of Carlton boss Graham Wright. Voss is contracted until the end of 2026 but after taking Carlton to a preliminary final in 2023, his side has stuttered and struggled to have a game plan. 'There was a sense of resignation, I thought, about this,' former Demons captain Garry Lyon said post-game on Fox Footy before vision was shown of incoming chief executive Wright in discussion with Blues powerbrokers in the rooms. 'They're in a situation where for the past three, four weeks they were the front-and-back-page story, and there was a stage there when Collingwood kicked eight goals in that third quarter and it looked like it was arguably going to be a 100-point (loss) and they were going to be (the story) again,' added Lyon. 'But in the end, I think it's kind of the result we expected coming in.' It was Carlton's 10th loss from 16 games this year as the Blues sit 11th on the ladder and 16 points behind eighth spot. Carlton's skill level was particularly poor — nine Blues players had kicking efficiency of less than 50 per cent. 'They are what they are, and they are a horrible kicking football side. Horrible. And that goes from the top down,' Lyon said. 'Adam Cerra was butchering the footy today … if you want to be an A-grade footballer, or you want to survive long enough to have a career in footy, you can't kick in the manner that they kick. 'And that becomes a list analysis decision that they're going to have to make.' Jordan Lewis added: 'It's a flow-on effect — how do you predict further afield if the kicks aren't hitting the target? You can't then make the next decision, so the flow-on effect is huge,' he said. 'I think the damning thing — the thing that we've shown time after time — is their midfield mix. They were just wiped off the park in terms of post-clearance stuff. 'They just can't spread, they can't link up, they can't kick, so there's so many parts of their game, at the moment, that aren't where they need to be to be a (good) AFL side.' Voss was circumspect post-game, saying: 'It's pretty clear we need to have come pretty important conversations. 'We let our club down tonight. We want our supporters to be proud of us and we didn't do that tonight … we can't tolerate that. That was a really poor performance.' For Collingwood, Nick Daicos had 36 disposals and a goal, and likely another three Brownlow votes, performance, as Collingwood boasted nine individual goalkickers. for the game. The Magpies are 14 points clear on top of the AFL ladder midway through round 17.
Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Perth Now
All fair in Harley Reid-Tom Green war: Kingsley
GWS coach Adam Kingsley insists it wasn't a deliberate tactic to get under the skin of West Coast star Harley Reid during the Giants' 59-point win in Perth on Friday night. The Giants kicked six of the first seven goals of the match to set up the easy 16.15 (111) to 8.4 (52) triumph, boosting their season record to 10-6 ahead of next week's crunch clash with Geelong. The biggest talking point of Friday's encounter was the heated tit-for-tat between GWS midfielder Tom Green and Reid. The pair went at it throughout the night, but it was their third-quarter exchanges that really stood out. Reid was floored and left gasping for breath after copping an off-the-ball elbow to the midriff near a ruck contest. Play was momentarily stopped for Reid to be assisted by the club's on-field doctor. As soon as Reid was given the all clear, Green ran in to lay an angry bump on the star Eagle, sparking heated words and a pointed finger from Reid. Green also copped plenty of niggling hits from Reid in what became a fascinating side plot to what was an otherwise dull game. Reid finished the match with 24 disposals and seven clearances, while Green was influential with 35 touches and nine clearances. "We didn't talk about getting under his skin," Kingsley said when asked about his team's tactics to curb the influence of Reid. "We identified his clearance threat to us during the week, and I think he had four clearance in the first quarter, so it was a really strong start from him. "We considered tagging him to just nullify his influence on the game, but we decided against that. "All in all, I thought we did pretty well on him." West Coast coach Andrew McQualter didn't have any issues with the Reid-Green battle. "It's awesome. That's what footy is about, as long as it doesn't cross a line," McQualter said. "I love the competitiveness of the game, and I hope all of our players do. "He (Reid) was up for the fight tonight. Potentially lost his attention a couple of times, which we'll keep working with him."But he's an ultimate competitor. If we could get every player to compete like Harley and want to go about their business like that, we would be happy." GWS defender Jack Buckley is in doubt to face the Cats after injuring his ankle in the third quarter. Kingsley is hopeful star forward Jesse Hogan (foot, illness) will be fit to return. "He did a 4km session (on Friday) back at headquarters in Sydney and had no pain, feeling fine, recovered from the bout of gastro that he had," Kingsley said of the Coleman medal contender. "There was no pain in his foot that's been troubling him for a little while. "He had a screw put in there, six years ago perhaps, and so at times it becomes irritated and it's something that he's managed. "He managed it last year, he's managing it this year, and sometimes it just tips over the edge where we've just got to give him a spell."
